Wisconsin Supervisor Killed During Meeting with Worker

A Milwaukee, Wis., plant supervisor was gunned down while meeting with a disgruntled employee who then killed himself, but police said they don’t yet know what specifically sparked the shooting.

George Hites, 58, of Milwaukee, was shot multiple times about 6 p.m. on Aug. 2 at Trans-Coil International, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The shooter — identified as 23-year-old Thaiv Xiong of Milwaukee — was found inside the plant with a gunshot wound to the head. A handgun was recovered at the scene.

“We have the classic disgruntled employee-immediate supervisor circumstance where sadly for reasons that are best known to the deceased employee, he developed a grudge against his boss and acted out in a violent way that resulted in that man’s death,” Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said.

Flynn did not disclose what the specific motivation was for the shooting, but said the shooter acted alone and did not target anyone else.

Flynn said police have no indication that anybody knew the shooter “had violent tendencies toward his boss.”

“He was already at work, and the meeting with his boss was something that wouldn’t seem to be out of the ordinary,” Flynn said.

TCI President and CEO Steven Copp said that counselors were at the plant to meet with employees throughout the day. Crisis counseling would continue as long as needed, he said.

“Our immediate focus right now is on our employees and quite frankly the families of the individuals that died yesterday. That’s our first priority,” Copp said. “Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to the two families most affected.”

Production at the plant shut down temporarily after the shooting.

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